Reproduced with permission of the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers. Oregon State University Library.

Subject:

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):

Nucleic Acids

Exhibit Category:

The Search for the Molecular Helix

Unique Identifier:

MMBBDB

Document Type:

Letters (correspondence)

Language:

English

Format:

application/pdf

image/tif

Physical Condition:

Good

Transcript:

27 March 1953

Dear Dr. Watson and Mr. Crick:

I am very glad to have your letter of 21 March, and to see the letter that you are sending off to NATURE.

I think that it is fine that there are now two proposed structures for nucleic acid, and I am looking forward to finding out
what the decision will be as to which is incorrect. Without doubt the King's-College data will eliminate one or the other.

We have taken care of the trouble of too small van der Waals contacts in our structure by rotating the phosphate groups. I
do not think that the matter of repulsion between the charged phosphates is an important one. I am not saying, however, that
I feel strongly that our structure is right, rather than yours.